Ghosts That We Knew
by notthtgurl
Summary: Remus Lupin could remember every detail of the last few years he and his friends had been together, safe within the walls of Hogwarts only to graduate straight into war, Lily and James falling in love, Peter turning on them all, and Sirius attaching himself to a girl that was marked to die.Yes, he could remember every detail. Sirius/OC, James/Lily
1. Don't Let Me Darken Your Door

**A/N: This is just marauders story I had sitting on my computer, I figured I mine as well share it. I'll be honest updates on this and my other stories will be slow but if there is still someone out willing to read I will always continue to write. Thank you for your time and patience, I hope you enjoy.**_  
_

_A constant reminder of where I can find her_

_A light that might give up the way_

_Is all that I'm asking for_

_without her I'm lost_

_But my love, don't fade away_

**Reminder, Mumford and Sons**

Remus caught his reflection in the glass of the window as he made his way to the door. He had aged ten years in the last six months his face was sullen and wrinkled. In fact he never quite knew what to do with his face anymore. He would smile at the thought of his unborn son and then shudder with fear at what kind of life he would have. His eyes would then narrow and he would take a deep breath. Teddy could only distract him from the war for a few short moments.

He pressed the tip of his wand to the door and muttered yet another password. Within a second it creaked open and allowed him access to the ancient kitchen of the Weasley's Aunt Muriel. He expected to see Bill at the table waiting for him, instead he was surprised to see Ginny Weasley, her face serious and wand raised. "What form did the boggart take when Ron faced it in your class?" she asked fiercely.

"A giant spider." he replied. She nodded and sat back down. He noticed that she too had aged in the last few months. She was no longer the small red-headed little girl chasing after her brothers, but a powerful young woman who knew hardships and worries that most girls her age couldn't dream of.

"Bill is going to be late." She mumbled, staring at a small golden coin she was flipping in between her fingers. "Got held up."

Remus nodded and sat down opposite her. "Where is everyone else?"

"Out doing something productive." She said bitterly "I've just gotten Mum to lie down, she hasn't slept in days. She very nearly set her robes on fire trying to make a pot of tea."

"Sleep will do her good. It would do you some good too by the look of it."

Ginny rolled her eyes at his hypocrisy and ran her hands through her hair. "Have you heard from him Remus? Anything at all?"

An angry face popped into his head screaming at him to _stick with his own kid_. He hadn't told anyone that he spoken to Harry that day, he was far too embarrassed. Unfortunately that had been their last conversation, now he didn't have a clue where Harry was. All he had was faith that he was still alive.

"No, I'm sorry Ginny I haven't." Even though she had to have been expecting that news Remus was still sad to give it to her. They both loved Harry. He was the closest thing Remus had to family besides Tonks. Every time Harry looked at him he saw Lily and every time he spoke he heard James. The boy was a comfort to him because he was a reminder of all the people he had lost.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing." She said suddenly. "He is out there and I can't stand not knowing and not being able to help him. If I could just find him_"

Remus held his hand up to silence her as he experienced an eerie sense of Déjà vu.

"_I can't keep sitting here while she is out there alone! She needs me, I can protect her better than anyone. I have a right to know where she is! I promised her I would always be there, I have to go!"_

"Ginny," he began in a soft voice "I know you feel like you're letting Harry down by staying here, but before you decide to do anything rash_" he paused as he tried to figure out how to best approach the subject "Have you ever wondered who Harry's godmother was?"

She stared at him, "No Remus I can't say that I have. How exactly is this relevant?"

"Just hear me out alright?"

She nodded and turned her gaze back to the coin in her hand.

"When I was at school there was a young woman in a situation similar to Harrys_"

"Oh yeah , she was a chosen one as well?"

"No, it was similar because like Harry she was marked."

"Marked?"

He pointed to his forehead "Marked, and not just in a literal sense."

Ginny looked at him skeptically "And what happened to this marked woman Remus?"

He sighed "Let me start at the beginning, just hear me out and afterwards I promise I will never preach to you again."

She considered him for a moment and then nodded.

Remus allowed his memory to take him back, back to his sixth year at Hogwarts where the marauders walked into the Gryffindor common room surprised by the first _Welcome Back_ party that they had not planned themselves …...

**Hogwarts:1976**

They stared in astonishment. Everyone knew that they were the ones that planned all of Gryffindor's parties. No one could have the same access to Honeydukes and the Three Broomsticks that they had. This was blasphemy. Someone was trying to one-up them. There was balloons and firewhiskey and sweets and even the occasional firework. The common room was alive with laughter and inebriation that had not been directly caused by the marauders. Something wasn't right.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?!" Sirius Black demanded as he rushed through the portrait hole "Our party isn't until next weekend!"

James Potter's eyes narrowed behind his glasses "Oi, You!" he yelled cornering a third year "what is this?"

"It's the Welcome Back party."

"No! The Welcome Back party isn't until next weekend , WE are the ones that planned it. This is an impostor party!"

"I don't really know_"

"Just tell us who did this!" Peter demanded.

The boy pointed across the room where two girls were dancing on top of a table with Lily Evans hovering near their feet as if prepared to catch them if they fell.

"Who is that?" Sirius asked.

James looked confused "That Padfoot, is Adelaide Deveo. Her Dad is __was_ a friend of my parents. I didn't even think she would come to school this year let alone dance on tables."

"Moony , you're a prefect shut this party down!" Sirius demanded.

Remus rolled his eyes "If it were your party you wouldn't want me to shut it down. I don't see why it's such a big deal she's done all the work for us_"

"But that's not the point is it?! If you're not going over there I will this has got to be stopped."

"No mate," James said sticking his arm out to block him "let me say something to her. She's liable to get upset if you rush over there yelling about her being an impostor."

Sirius looked angry but fell instep behind James as the boys made their way over to the table.

"Evening Evans you're looking divine as usual is that a new shade of lipstick you're wearing?"

"Piss off Potter."

Since James was able to bounce back from Lily's rejections so quickly he immediately turned to address the dancers instead. "Hey Dev!" he said cheerfully, reusing the nickname her brother had claimed.

"Oh James!" the girl exclaimed "It's great you could make it! There are drinks over in the corner and there is a ton to eat so don't be shy!" She smiled and turned back to her friend. James and Remus managed to smile but Sirius was fuming "The nerve!" he mumbled.

"Actually there was something else I wanted to _"

"Jack is fine, thanks for asking!" She said "He should be coming to a couple matches this year_"

"That's great but I'm not asking about your brother!" James yelled up to her as the music seemed to get louder "I was just wondering if you were aware that WE are the ones that usually throw the Welcome Back party."

"Sure , I'm aware. Listen James I really love this song , why don't you boys scurry off and have a good time."

"Alright listen you!" Sirius said angrily "I haven't a clue who you are but_"

"Shocker." Adelaide's friend said sharply.

"You birds can't just come in here and throw your own parties. That's not the way things work around here."

"You are not the King of this castle Sirius Black." Adelaide said with a laugh "Now go away you're killing my buzz."

"But_"

"Come on Padfoot leave her alone." James said with a sigh "Let's just go get a drink."

Sirius looked outraged and had to be physically pushed over to the bar. "What is with you Prongs?" he demanded.

"You really don't remember who she is?" Remus asked.

"No." Peter and Sirius said with certainty at the same time.

Jams sighed "Adelaide Deveo is that girl whose family keeps dying, her grandparents and aunts and uncles and all of her cousins. In fourth year she left school early because her Mum was murdered and then last year her Dad went missing. It's just her and her brother left."

"OH!" Sirius said with a pang of guilt, "Right, everyone says she's cursed."

James' eyes darkened "Yeah, well people can be pretty tactless."

"She's never acted like that before." Remus said gesturing behind him to the table "She was always understandably quiet, now she's lost almost everything and she looks like she doesn't have a care in the world? That's strange."

"Who is the other one?" Peter asked with interest.

"Persephone Creswell, chaser for Hufflepuff." James answered.

"Oh that's just smashing! A Hufflepuff was never invited to one of our parties!" Sirius said "If she wasn't cursed I'd_"

"Shut up with that Sirius!" James snapped.

"Well blow me, I always thought you only had one for Lily."

"It's not that idiot! Dad just asked me to be nice to her, you know _if_ she showed up back at school. He said he was sure she'd be taking it hard."

Across the room Adelaide was having some sort of drinking contest with a skinny Gryffindor boy in the year below them.

"Maybe this is how she's coping with it." Peter said "When my Mum died my Dad drank loads."

"Not exactly a good thing though is it?" Remus asked looking at her with concern. Lily seemed to share the same sentiment as she was trying to pry the cup out of Adelaide's hand.

"Just leave her be." Sirius said "She has Evans to look out for her. This is probably just a phase, none of us have any right to judge her."

"You're right." James said forcing his attention away from Lily and Adelaide "Let's just try to enjoy this."

And although the alcohol supply ran out too fast and a poorly charmed firework nearly ruined an armchair, the boys found that they did indeed enjoy themselves. Eventually they were able to partially accept Adelaide's behavior, she just seemed to want to move on with her life. Her optimism was especially evident after she and the Skinny boy, whose name was actually Olin, lead a rather inspiring toast.

"Oi!" he said standing on a table next to Adelaide and addressing the room "Quiet, Quiet it's time for a toast. I would just like to thank Merlin for all the beautiful women I have in my life," he wrapped his arm around Adelaide and she beamed "for all the galleons I'm going to make once I get out of this place, and for Gryffindor tower," several people began to cheer, "which is filled with some real fit lasses, a couple decent blokes, and a whole lot of excessive pride!"

"Amen!" Adelaide giggled.

"So here is to riding this broom till the charm wears off!" Olin added to general applause and laughter.

Adelaide seemed to be nothing more than a normal teenager. She was laughing at bad jokes and dancing wildly to slow music , there was no indication that she had experienced any loss or trauma let alone more loss and trauma than anyone else in the school. It was only Remus that noticed the way she was always clinging to one of her friends as if they would disappear if she let go. He was also the only one to notice the scorch mark on the back of her neck.

Next Time:

_"I think that it really says a lot that she can handle that much loss and still act normally. It means that shes a strong person doesn't it?" Sirius said, shocking his friends as it was the nicest thing he had ever said about the girl. "I'm still peeved off that she's making a damn spectacle of herself, but i reckon most people wouldn't even be able to get out of their beds."_

_"Well Sirius, you acted a bit like she is after the business with your parents." Peter said "That is to say you were strong about it and made a spectacle of yourself to cope."_


	2. As the Winter Winds Liter London

"_We'll be washed and buried one day my girl_

_And the time we were given will be left for the world_

_The flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague_

_So let the memories be good for those who stay"_

_**Winter Winds, Mumford and Sons**_

Adelaide Deveo, although she had always attracted a lot of attention due to all of the horrible things that had happened to her family, was now becoming a source of entertainment for the students of Hogwarts. She made enchanted origami in lessons, did elaborate impressions of all the teachers at meals, and even charmed one of the suits of armor to dance in the corridor. Of course in between all of their laughter people started wondering just how this girl could go from the school's charity case to the life of the party.

"It has to be an act." Remus said to Peter one day after they watched her levitate Olin to swing by a chandelier in the entrance hall "I'm not even that cheerful!"

"Well you've got your own furry little problems to deal with." Peter said with a smirk.

"I just mean that I can't imagine someone functioning after everything she's been through."

"I heard that she has to take a pepper-up potion every hour or she becomes catatonic."

Remus shook his head, "Yes there has been a lot of talk about her this week."

The Hogwarts rumor mill had been running on overdrive with all the talk about Adelaide's strange behavior. Accusations varied in their seriousness , someone had said that Adelaide was simply in love with Olin and that was why she was so cheerful, while someone else had the nerve to suggest that Adelaide was actually responsible for all of the deaths in her family as if she were an heir to a fortune or something.

Adelaide seemed to be on top of all the rumors and actually used them as material. One night in the Great Hall , while Olin tried to chat up a chesty fifth year Adelaide knelt down on the table in front of him and proclaimed to the whole hall that even though she had ditched Olin because he was such a thickhead no one else could have him because she wanted him back. Her histrionics made it obvious that there were no feelings between her friend and herself and managed to silence some of the busybodies in the school, not to mention James Potter whom she thoroughly embarrassed when she said "Olin please let me be the James Potter to your Lily Evans!" Lily found a lot less humor in it than James and the rest of the school did.

The marauders actually felt outshined at times. Sirius took it the hardest claiming that she had the "sympathy vote" and that was why people laughed harder at her impression of Slughorn as a walrus than they did at his joke about Snape's hair. James was always ready to defend her, he seemed to think that this whole personality she had adopted was just a front for a lot of deeper problems. He often changed the subject when her name was brought up, he claimed that talking about it always seemed to depress him.

"It's strange you know? I knew her mother and father, it's horrible that they're dead now. There is this creepiness about the whole situation, I don't know."

"I think that it really says a lot that she can handle that much loss and still act normally, means she's a strong person doesn't it? " Sirius said, shocking his friends as it was the nicest thing he had ever said about the girl. "I'm still peeved off that she's making a damn spectacle of herself, but I reckon most people wouldn't even be able to get out of their beds ."

"Well Sirius you acted a bit like she is after the business with your parents." Peter said "That is to say that you were strong about it and made a spectacle of yourself to cope."

He shot Peter a look, but didn't continue the conversation. It seemed that Sirius' admiration of Adelaide was very short-lived.

The end of September marked the beginning of two wars. One was slowly gaining strength outside of the walls of the castle. Aside from the occasional disappearance or murder reported in the Daily Prophet the students of Hogwarts were shielded from Lord Voldemort and his death eaters. However there was still a sense of foreboding that Remus and his friends could never ignore. James's father worked with the Auror department at the ministry, Sirius's family were avid supporters of Voldemort, Peter was afraid of everything, and Remus knew werewolves would likely be recruited by death eaters as weapons. Somehow, despite the fact that everything outside of Hogwarts seemed to be falling apart, the marauders were filled with optimism and confidence. They had taught themselves to transform into their respective animals and spent one night every month running around with a werewolf. There was a sense of being invincible, one that you could only feel as a teenager. The second war would eventually run parallel with the first. The students would be unable to ignore it, as they would witness battles every day. The end of September brought the first of these battles. It was a windy day and the Gryffindors had double potions with the Ravenclaws.

When Remus arrived in the corridor outside of Slughorn's classroom he found Adelaide Deveo toe to toe with Sirius Black. It was an inevitable altercation. Sirius had taken a personal interest in Adelaide and he seemed hell bent on silencing her. James stood next to the pair, playing Remus's usual role of the mediator.

"Dev just step back he didn't mean_"

"Yes I did!" Sirius snapped, glaring down at the girl in front of him

"He can't just say whatever he wants about someone , especially if they aren't even here to defend themselves!"

"Get out of my face Deveo!"

"He was just having a laugh! Weren't you Sirius?"

"No one is laughing Potter!"

"Remus, what is going on?" Lily Evans was beside him looking at the argument with horror.

"I dunno, I've just gotten here." Remus mumbled.

"Adelaide what are you doing!"

"Stay out of this Evans! I'm about to jinx every hair off of Black's pretty little head." Adelaide sneered.

"If Slughorn sees this you'll both get a detention, just leave it alone!"

"C'mon Sirius she's right." James said "I've got your back Evans."

"You most certainly do not Potter."

James winked at her and started to push Sirius away from the potential duel.

It was one of those rare occasions where Sirius Black was actually willing to leave a fight unfinished. Unfortunately, it was also one of those rare occasions that Adelaide Deveo came down from the clouds and fell victim to the impulsive emotions that often accompany personal tragedy. Adelaide saw something in Sirius that she hated and Sirius saw something in Adelaide that made him burn with jealousy. He was the product of a pureblood society that had ruined her life and she had seemed to master indifference in a way that he never could. In both minds the other was heartless. The irony of this first of many battles only comes with hindsight.

"Black we aren't finished here!" Adelaide yelled at a retreating Sirius.

"I am."

Maybe it was instinct or just the look in Adelaide's eyes, but Remus found himself preparing to intervene in a dwindling row. And then as quick as the strike of a match words exploded from Adelaide's mouth; powerful, pointed words that would spark a flame which overtime would be capable of destruction that Remus' young mind couldn't even fathom.

"Just because they disinherited you doesn't make you any less of a disgusting, heartless, prejudiced, fucking pureblood princess!"

The tension in the corridor was as thick as smoke.

"Just because your family is dead doesn't make you a victim , you don't get my sympathy! Walking around here like everything is a big fucking joke. It's obvious you don't care_"

"Shut your mouth Black! You know nothing about me!" Her wand was in his face now.

"Deveo I swear I will make your life a living hell, get your fucking wand out of my face."

"Make my life a living hell huh? Sorry Princess your pureblood mates have already beat you to it."

Before a prefect, or a friend, or a bystander could even think to intervene sparks began to fly from the tips of the two wands. The duel was sloppy. Most curses missed or were easily blocked , but there was so much emotion behind every movement that it felt like the most dangerous duel Remus had ever witnessed (including dozens of incidents with the Slytherins). Finally the figurative fire was put out by an actual one. Sirius' robes were ablaze and Adelaide was dangling upside down, one hand preventing her skirt from exposing her knickers to the world the other trying desperately to reach her fallen wand. This was of course the moment Slughorn chose to open his classroom door.

Adelaide and Sirius sat through double potions red-faced and smoldering, having lost 50 house points and racked up detentions for the next two weeks.

And thus it had begun.


End file.
